The Farmboy and the Assassin
by Aleine Skyfire
Summary: So, a farmboy and an assassin walk into a cantina... Personal archive for Luke/Mara oneshots! 1: Asexual!Luke doesn't understand why his friends fall to pieces whenever Mara speaks, but... that's sirens for you.


**A/N:** Prompted by an anonymous ask on tumblr from this prompt list ( astudyinimagination . tumblr / post / 177486674665 / astudyinimagination-nerds-are-cool-if-youre ) — and you can send me prompts, too! :D

I'm not sure if I'll ever write more LM oneshots like this, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to make a place to put them. :)

 **9 ii) Siren and asexual pirate who doesn't understand why all his crew are losing their shit that person has a nice voice sure but what the f*** is happening**

 **==1. Of Rogues and Sirens==**

The thing is, Mara Jade is pretty. Beautiful, in fact. Luke isn't at all interested in sleeping with her (or anyone else, that's how he rolls), but that doesn't mean he's blind.

But he cannot, for the life of him, understand why everyone else around him goes so _mynock-shit insane_ every time she so much as utters one word!

Sure, her voice has a nice, smoky quality to it. Probably seductive, for those who are into that sort of thing. But most of the Rogues practically _salivate_ in her presence like _Hutts_ , and even _Han_ , whom Luke knows beyond a shadow of a doubt is head-over-heels for Leia, goes all soft-eyed around Mara.

* * *

Luke asks her about it at one point. "Doesn't it ever bother you, people reacting to you like that?"

She shrugs. "Not really."

Luke arches an unbelieving eyebrow.

"Fine, maybe a little. But it's okay, Farmboy; I'm used to it. Oh, don't give me that look—I mean it."

Mara is tough, too. Having once been an Imperial agent, she'd had to be the toughest of the tough to survive. She doesn't easily share her feelings—no, she almost never does. And only ever to Luke, he's sure.

* * *

Mara has been running with the Rogues for an entire year when Luke finally gets the answer to his question. They're all tinkering with their ships—Han and Leia bickering more than tinkering, of course—when Mara starts to hum idly.

It's the most beautiful sound he's ever heard.

He stops to listen, and eventually notices that everyone else has. The other men look even _more_ mindless now than ever, but Leia is frowning.

Mara must feel the attention on her, because she stops and looks up. Leia is halfway across the hangar to her, and she stops with her hands on her hips. Luke winces internally—up to now, the two have been on friendly terms with each other. What the heck is going on?

Leia looks Mara in the eye, and Mara doesn't look away.

"You're a siren," Leia says, "aren't you."

Mara lifts her chin defiantly, but there's a gleam in her eye, a wild gleam that Luke knows well, back from the days when she'd first run from Palpatine to the Alliance and she was in a constant state of fight-or-flight.

Luke approaches her slowly. "Mara?" he says softly. "Is that what you are?"

Mara turned to him, wearing that oh-so-familiar and painfully bitter smile. "Why you think Palpatine wanted me? You know I'm not particularly powerful in the Force. But I have my voice. Of _course_ he could find use for a siren."

Leia sounds more frustrated than angry, at least, when she says, "Mara, you could have told us."

Mara barks a laugh that's as bitter as her smile, and it hurts to hear it. "People trust sirens even less than they trust Force users, and I was supposed to tell you that I was both as well as a former Imperial agent?"

Leia holds up her hands, conceding the point. "All right. Now we know." She sighs. "Is there any way to get the men to stop acting like idiots?"

There's a general chorus of indignant "hey!" and Mara's smile loses some of its bitterness as she shakes her head. "Not that I know of." Then she stops, cocks her head, considering, and looks straight at Han. "Maybe if you put a ring on it."

Both Han and Leia go wide-eyed, and Luke can't help snickering, which is okay because the rest of the Rogues are laughing.

Mara turns back to Luke and shakes her head again. "At least," she says quietly, so only he can hear, "you don't go brainless every time I open my mouth."

Luke gives her an exaggerated bow, which makes her snort in amusement. "Always happy to oblige, milady."


End file.
